APEC Water Systems Ultimate RO-PERM Boosted Performance with Permeate Pump Ultra Safe Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System, for Low Pressure Homes

After an initial issue (the permeate pump was leaking at the permeate out fitting) that was taken care of by APEC, the system has been performing flawlessly. I am not a plumber by any means, but the sink install went very smooth. We had a soap dispenser in our granite that we weren't using, so we just used that hole for the faucet. The quick connect fittings work very well. The unit is not small and will take up about 50-60% of the space below a standard , but the set up of the filters and permeate pump is very well done! I also purchased and installed the fridge kit, once again an easy install. We needed to use all 20' of tubing supplied for the fridge kit, but with the improved pressure of the permeate pump, the water dispenser has lost no flow compared to my original house supply. The tap at the sink will fill a regular cup in 5-7 seconds. The permeate pumps ability to keep the water holding tank a max pressure greatly improves the flow through the unit. The only downside is that the permeate pump is noisy when it runs, much like all the other reviews state. The good news is that it doesn't run all that often, only when you use the water. You can definitely mount this in the basement to minimize any noise heard. If you do, it would be a good idea to purchase some longer tubing runs to get up and down through the floor. All in all, we are very happy with our new system and would not hesitate to recommend this company to anyone how needs and RO unit. We still need to perform a follow up test for uranium, but given it is using the industry standard Dow Filmtec membrane, I have no concerns that it is performing properly.

I had an Ecowater ERO-375 for not quite two years, and the manifold started leaking. When I looked at the cost of filters on that unit, I was more than halfway to buying the APEC RO-90 system. After reading mostly positive reviews, I decided to pick one up, as well as a water quality tester to check before and after results. Installation was pretty simple (although I originally installed the RO-90, I replaced it with this RO-PERM, which installs the same way). With the exception of the water input line, I had to run mostly new PEX and install the faucet. The only trouble I had was finding a step-down fitting at my local store to re-use the 3/8" line going to my refrigerator, as the APEC system uses 1/4". I wasn't very happy with the water pressure in the RO-90, which is how I wound up replacing it with this system. I knew I could get an upgrade kit to go to 3/8", but I really liked the idea of the 1:1 wastewater efficiency that comes with using the permeate pump, versus the 1:3 ratio with the units that don't use a pump. It was at this point that I had some data to compare. My water at the faucet was registering about 620 ppm (despite being on city water, it's a community well that has VERY hard water) and the Ecowater was filtering down to about 35 ppm with the older filters. The RO-90 was filtering down to 15 - 20 ppm. So, I was expecting this to be lower. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. After flushing it a couple of times, I'd start around 60 ppm and then it would creep up to almost 80 ppm. I had sent a message about this to APEC, and they got back to me very fast. Turns out, the pump constantly pushes water to the tank, and the little top-offs that my refrigerator was doing to make ice was preventing the system from working as efficiently as possible. The person at APEC suggested flushing the tank more often, or installing an automatic shut off valve , and sent a diagram that was extremely helpful. For the few bucks the valve cost, I figured I'd give it a shot. I had a bunch of PEX left over from the ice maker installation kit that I had bought (I used the fittings, but not the PEX) so it seemed like a worthwhile change. Installation took me a few minutes (most of which were spent emptying the tank), and after letting the filter run a cycle, I haven't seen a test go over 17 ppm. The pressure isn't quite what it was before installing the valve, but it's better than the RO-90 was, and the system itself pushes more water in the tank, and is much more efficient. When it comes time to change the membrane filter, I might spend a few bucks extra to upgrade to the 3/8" version -- and I have to say, I LOVE that you have so many options with this system. The quick-disconnect fittings (absent on my Ecowater system) make it a breeze to customize. So, to sum it up, this system runs at least as well as the one that cost nearly three times as much. The replacement filters cost less than half as much, and APEC's support (I e-mailed them a few times before and after buying the system) is extraordinary. Nobody in the house has noticed a difference in water quality between the systems, which is awesome when you consider the system it replaced is the second highest rated in Consumer Reports. If you're in the market for an RO system, you can't go wrong with this.

Absolutely phenomenal. For a background on what we have: we are on well system, with approximately 45-50 psi. I have always been concerned with water filtration units installed under the kitchen sink, since we had an awful experience a few years ago with an indoor flood. So, instead of under the kitchen sink, i installed it in the basement. The location of the installed unit is about 8 feet below the sink top and about 5 feet over from where the faucet is installed. Instead of using the faucet that came with this unit, we opted for a standard drinking faucet that matched our sink/faucet. You can get any "drinking" faucet that is non-air gap (air gap is typically a RO faucet, but no worries with this system). The only additional hardware you need if you get a drinking faucet is to go to a big box hardware store and purchase a 1/4" faucet adapter with john guest (quick fit) connectors (about $3). From what I can gather from research on RO units and faucets, having a drinking water faucet with a 1/4" supply fills a glass faster than a standard RO faucet. I can get 10 oz of water in under 7 seconds, but can't tell you if that is faster than the standard - but I can tell you it performs quite well as there appears to be no performance issues with the increased supply line. The unit overall has operated for one month FLAWLESSLY! On the initial hook up, it took about 1 hour and 45 minutes to completely fill the tank and the "waste" water generated from this unit was about 8-9 gallons to fill a complete tank. I am happy that we installed this in the basement, as when the pump operates when filling the tank, it makes a light "thump" sound every 2-3 seconds. If this was installed under a kitchen sink, it could potentially become an annoyance. The quality of this unit by far exceeds my expectations. Over the long run, this system will definitely be cheaper than the other units I looked at. The three pre-filters (#1-#3) need to be replaced once a year using APEC branded filters. The inline post filter needs replaced when the RO filter needs replaced - which is every 3-5 years depending on usage when using the APEC branded filters (the RO filter is from DuPont). Other systems' filters lasted 6 months or so and the RO filter had a 1 year life. You can use any standard prefilter from a big box store if you like and can potentially change out the inline filter and RO filtering if you feel the need to in 3-5 years....but why would you want to? The APEC filters are a bit more expensive, but definitely worth the cost. [comparison - APEC pre filters (#1-#3) weigh several ounces more than the filters from big box store which I'm hoping correlates to more "umph" in the filter]. The unit we purchased came with a spare set of #1-#3 filters and a TDS meter - so we won't need to purchase filters until November 2016 Not sure if all units come with spare filters...but ours did. Side Note: When drawing water for the first time, the water was black for about 10 seconds, then turned clear (instruction booklet said it would do this - from the carbon in the pre-filters). The booklet advised to completely empty the storage tank after the initial fill, then operate as normal. We have and the water tastes great. TDS readings before RO: 561 TDS readings after RO: 32

I've used it now for a few months and had no issues at all. I have in my home a 40-60 psi water pressure and decided to install the unit in the basement in the expectation the permeate pump builds up enough pressure to get the water to the kitchen. The faucet is 2m higher than the tank and 12m away (supply line). Still, the water comes out strongly. My TDS readings were far better than the bottled water I used to get. Above all, the water tastes great! The only issue are the clicks of the pump. Not loud but it is noticeable through wall and ceiling. It doesn't really annoy me and in the worst case I'll shield the pump acoustically.

Fast shipping, product came as expected.

Great system - purchased last year but did not replace prior unit as filters were still good in the 20yr old unit - just switched over yesterday to this Apec RO model - LOVE it .. have 3 x 20-gallon tanks downstairs that feed my 3 RO taps that are placed in the kitchen and both bathrooms, a water tower and an ice machine - the latter two direct feed to my RO system - the pressure is all taps/units is remarkable. Taps, water tower/ice marching are anywhere from 20 to 35 feet from the tanks and the pressure is so so much better then before, likely because of the permeate pump or the fact that the system regenerates at 90GPD. The pump did click for a good 3-4 hours at first, only because it was doing it’s job increasing water and pressure to all tanks. Pressure was 30 before from the tank (ok i guess) but now it is 60 and water just spews as it should. And if you wonder ... why do i have so many tanks ... well, I hate to run out and in my view, it is better to have too much than be at a deficit. TDS meter shows water is flowing at 1 - 2 PPM which can only be beat by 0. PS - I also left behind a culligan ac-30 unit .. filters were getting crazily expensive and hard to find where I am. Considered replacing with another culligan unit but the cost was ridiculous. Online was not really an option 15-20 years ago, but now because of online choices offered by places like Amazon .ca/.com, am no longer limited to local buying.

Just installed yesterday. Only took a hour as it replaced older system. Pump was very loud at first due to air in system. With a 55 to 60psi water supply this 90lpd membrane cranks out 16l of ro water in less then 2hrs on my set-up on a complete drain on system. The pump will "click" every x6 seconds which dissipated on filling and stops at pressure. My system is in my wet bar downstairs so not a huge issue. I use 40l of ro water for my aquarium and drinking a week. Right out the gate my ph was 6.3 and kh 0 out of this system. I got the pump with the hopes of running ice machine upstairs once renos are done in the kitchen. Would have given x5 however cost and noise are my drawbacks. Water tastes great, just add salt for you coffee snobs. You will not be disappointed with this kit as it has everything you need. The faucet is very elegant and functional. Have used APEC filters and membranes for years, don't cheap out as you will be disappointed. Get one and you will never drink tap water again! Update. After 100+ L the pump will get quiet and turn into just a tap noise under your sink. Still getting 15l of RO water till system is empty and recovery is less then x2hrs. Water pressure is amazing at the tap. No regrets other then cost now.

Good drinking water system. Coming from a Culligan AC-30 at my former house, and this is a superior unit at 1/3 the price. Cartridges are easy to change and generic substitutes are readily available. Installation was simple, although the "water feed adapter" was of poor quality and difficult to install without leaks. Pro tip: If you over-tighten you'll roll the seal and it will leak. You want it just snug enough so you've compressed the gasket enough, but not so far it moves. A difficult proposition, which could be solved by designing the connector with a hard stop to ensure proper gasket compression. This is my only complaint about the product and it would not stop me from buying another. I've been using this for all of my families drinking and cooking water for 2 months now and have been pleased. The tank holds enough water to fill a large pot to boil pasta (5L) and recovers quickly. The permeate pump does make a bit of noise (a clicking sound) but I don't find it objectionable. If you're sensitive to noise the same unit is available without the pump, although I cannot comment how fast the regeneration is on that model. The manual suggests you can also insulate the noise but I have not tried that myself. The size indicated is more of a guideline as it is not a perfect square. Depending on your plumbing you can fit it in a smaller space than indicated. I was planning on remotely installing the tank but was able to fit it under my sink after all. Overall I'm quite pleased with the product and recommend it.